1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a computer game teaching method and system in which educational information is presented to a student while the student is playing a computer game. More specifically, the invention relates to a method of teaching in which the student's responses to questions relating to the educational information are used both to modify the game scoring and play to provide immediate feedback to the student, and are transmitted for subsequent analysis to guide the student's further education.
2. Description of Related Art
Computer games, and particularly video games are a well-known means of entertainment for both children and adults. Although such games develop and improve hand-eye coordination, they are popular primarily for their entertainment value.
Computer games are available in a wide variety of formats. Some of the more popular formats are: sports games based on sporting contests such as football, baseball, etc.; adventure games which require the player to solve a series of puzzles to progress through the adventure; and arcade games which require the player to shoot opponents and/or avoid being shot. While such games may be quite different in play, they typically have at least one common feature, namely, a game score which is displayed during the game to let the player know how well he is doing.
The same capabilities of the computer which make it an excellent game platform, also make it an excellent teaching tool. The ability to quickly store and manipulate large quantities of information, and to provide different output based on an analysis of that information, gives the computer great potential in the educational field.
Nonetheless, previous attempts at using computers for educational purposes have generally involved teaching programs which, despite being well-designed educationally, are quite dry and scholarly. They are simply not considered to be "fun" like a computer game.
Moreover, such teaching programs have typically been designed only to display the results of one execution of the teaching program and/or to teach only one educational subject. Thus, there is no opportunity for monitoring the students progress over a period of time, for monitoring the student's progress relative to other students using the same program, for providing feedback to the author of the teaching program, or for teaching multiple educational subjects.
Accordingly, one object of the present invention is to combine the "fun" aspects of computer and video games with the educational instruction capabilities of teaching programs. A second object of the invention is to modify the scoring algorithm of the computer game such that as the student demonstrates mastery of the educational information, he can achieve a higher score in the game.
Another object of the invention is to provide a means for teaching any one or more of a variety of different educational subjects by providing multiple compatible tutorial modules which may be selected for use with one or more compatible computer games.
A further object of the invention is to provide a means for centrally analyzing the student's response data so that one student's responses may be analyzed in light of other students' responses.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent to one skilled in the art.